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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: court · board · content · file · press · mate · rash · band

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. mate — a partner
  3. court — of law
  4. band — a music group
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. file — a tool
  7. file — a document
  8. file — a line of people
  9. rash — a series
  10. rash — hasty
  11. board — to get on
  12. mate — to breed
  13. court — of a king
  14. board — a committee
  15. content — the amount
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. court — for sport
  19. content — happy
  20. mate — a friend
  21. press — newspapers
  22. band — a ring
  23. press — to push
  24. content — videos and posts

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com